Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
To Bake a Ham
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the ham
Soak the ham in water for at least 12 hours.
Wipe it dry, trim any rusty spots, and clean the skin thoroughly.
Bake
Cover the ham with a thick crust to retain the juices.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 4 to 5 hours for a small ham, longer for a large one.
Finish and brown
Remove the crust and skin, brush with beaten egg yolk, and dust with bread crumbs or cracker dust.
Return to the oven to brown, or glaze without returning to the oven.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Is the main cut being cooked, so its long soak and slow bake set its texture and moisture.
- Beaten egg yolk
- Brushed on the surface to help the bread crumb coating adhere and brown in the oven.
- Bread crumbs or cracker dust
- Forms a dry crumb layer on the surface that browns and adds a crisp finish.
The step that matters
Covering the ham with a thick crust. The crust acts as a seal that traps moisture during the long bake, so the ham stays juicy rather than drying out over several hours.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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